The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that employers in the state can legally fire workers for being too attractive.

The legal precedent came after a court unanimously agreed that a dentist did not violate the Civil Rights Act by terminating an assistant whom his wife considered a threat to their marriage.

Emirates 24/7 reports that dentist James Knight testified that he had told Melissa Nelson on several occasions that her clothing was too tight, revealing and "distracting".

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However both parties claim that Nelson never flirted with Knight, and Nelson sued for wrongful dismissal arguing that she would not have been fired as a man.

In 2009 the pair began exchanging texts, which were initially work-related but became more suggestive, culminaing in Knight asking Nelson how often she had an orgasm.

When Knight's wife found out about the texts she demanded he fire Nelson, calling her a "big threat to our marriage".

The seven justices, all male, argued that the basic question presented by the case was "whether an employee who has not engaged in flirtatious conduct may be lawfully terminated simply because the boss views the employee as an irresistible attraction".

The court then ruled that bosses can fire workers they find too attractive and that such actions do not consitute unlawful discrimination.